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New Year, new opportunities, same priorities

Do you have a New Year’s Resolution? At Carers Trust we’ve been thinking about our plans for 2016 and although we will want to try out new ways of delivering our campaigns, at the heart of what we do will remain the same priority: supporting unpaid carers.

And as we scan ahead into 2016, we have plenty of new opportunities to do just that.

Money will once again be the talk of the town in March when the Chancellor unveils his Budget for 2016 to 2017. We know the hard facts: not enough is being invested in social care to deliver the services that people need. We also know that this is a pressure that is only going to worsen as councils take on more responsibilities to support carers and the people they care for, and the number of people needing support continues to rise. Carers Trust will be making this case to the Chancellor in the lead up to the Budget and will be urging him to invest more in vital support services that help you and the people you care for.

Following hot on the heels of the Budget will be the one year anniversary of the introduction of the Care Act on 1 April. As you might already know, the Care Act introduced very important new rights for carers in England – in particular the right for all carers to have an assessment of their needs for support regardless of the level of care they are providing. However, we have been doing research into the implementation of the Act and are concerned that councils have not been following through on their duties to support carers. We’re going to be doing an exciting piece of work about this this year – watch this space…

And as we turn to spring, voters in Wales and Scotland will be going to the polls to elect their new regional assembly members. Our teams in both Wales and Scotland are working hard to influence the manifestos of the parties standing for election, trying to ensure that they put carers at the heart of their policy proposals. They will also be using the period leading up to the election to put carers issues firmly on the political agenda. Elections offer carers a fantastic chance to highlight the issues that matter to you and to get commitments from politicians so, if you live in Wales or Scotland, we’d urge you to take any opportunity you can to get involved in their campaigns.

So, a busy year ahead – and that only takes us up to the half-way point! Would you consider making your own New Year’s Resolution a commitment to take one campaigning action with Carers Trust? We’d be delighted to have your support. If you think you will be interested, drop me an email on: mhawkins@carers.org